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G400 Pink Tourmaline Lovely Pendant with Tiny Seed Pearls :

Sat, 10/22/2016 - 17:09 — pam

G400

Beautiful color of Pink Tourmaline gemstone set into this dainty pendant, which is circa 1855. The gemstone is approximately 3 carats hand cut and hand set, a beautiful Pendant.
Tourmaline.
On the outer frame of the tourmaline are 38 natural 1 mm seed pearls. These very tiny pearls had to be drilled and then they are strung on a wire and attached perfectly on the narrow gold frame. Very labor intensive work and talent to make this beautiful pendant.
Background of Tourmaline Gemstones:
Somewhere in Brazil in the 1500s, a Spanish conquistador washed the dirt from a green tourmaline crystal and confused the vibrant gem with emerald. His confusion lived on until scientists recognized tourmaline as a distinct mineral species in the 1800s. The confusion about the stone’s identity is even reflected in its name, which comes from toramalli, which means “mixed gems” in Sinhalese (a language of Sri Lanka). It’s a term Dutch merchants applied to the multicolored, water-worn pebbles that miners found in the gem gravels of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
It’s easy to understand why people so easily confuse tourmaline with other gems: Very few gems match tourmaline’s dazzling range of colors. From rich reds to pastel pinks and peach colors, intense emerald greens to vivid yellows and deep blues, the breadth of this gem’s color range is unrivalled. Brazilian discoveries in the 1980s and 1990s heightened tourmaline’s appeal by bringing intense new hues to the marketplace.
People have probably used tourmaline as a gem for centuries, but until the development of modern mineralogy, they identified it as some other stone (ruby, sapphire, emerald, and so forth) based on its coloring.
The setting is also handmade of yellow gold with test 15 karat. The bale is a replacement at 10 karat gold. This chain is 14 karat gold and 17 inches long. The chain is newer than the pendant but probably from the 1920's. The pendant with the bale measure 1 1/4 inches long and 3/8 of an inch wide. The pendant, pearls and gemstone are in excellent condition and have a current value for insurance is $1300.00 as of October 2016.